Užice speech
The Užice speech is a dialect in the Central South Slavonic dialect continuum, classified amongst Eastern Herzegovinian speeches of the Štokavian super-dialect.cf. the maps of the Serbo-Croatian dialects by Pavle Ivić, Dalibor Brozović et al. It is traditionally spoken by c. 500,000 people in the Zlatibor and Moravica Districts in the Užice region in the south-western part of Serbia.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор“, Титово Ужице 1970, p. 74“The Užice region consists of Mount Zlatibor, Užička Crna gora, Stari Vlah, Soko, Požega Valley, Moravica, Polimlje, and Podblaće, which comprise a region with some specific geographic, and somewhat also ethnographic characteristics within Serbia” – Р. Познановић, „Традиционално усмено народно стваралаштво Ужичког краја“, Посебна издања Етнографског института САНУ 30/1, Београд 1988, p. 24 – 25According to 2002 population census in Serbia, there were 313,396 people living in the Zlatibor District (the capital of which is Užice) and 224,772 people settled in the Moravica District (the capital of which is Čačak). Names One of the earliest mentions of the local dialect of the Užice region is found in Ottoman geographer Evliya Çelebi’s record on his visit to the Užice nahiya in 1664.Evlija Čelebi, „Putopis“, Sarajevo 1973. The language of the people of Užice was then recognized by him as the Bosnian language.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 39 and 43 Today Užičans of Christian faith usually name their language Serbian, while those of the Sunni Muslim faith (who primarily dwell in the municipalities of Nova Varoš, Priboj, Prijepolje, and Sjenica in the Zlatibor District) name their language Bosnian. The name Serbo-Croatian was also used during the Yugoslav era.cf. the population censa in Serbia and former Yugoslavia Classification The Užice speech is a Neo-Štokavian dialect of the Ijekavian rendering of the old Slavonic vowel yat. It is characterized by an Eastern Herzegovinian accenting system consisting of four melodic accents with long vowels following accented syllables, and a case system using full declension.Живојин Станојчић, Љубомир Поповић, „Граматика српскога језика“, Београд 2004, p. 10 Today many modern Užičans, especially in urban areas, use the Ekavian rendering of yat (which is official in Serbia) in speech and writing, instead of the traditional Užican Ijekavian rendering.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 274 Nevertheless, the original Ijekavian forms of local toponyms such as Bioska, Đetinja, Prijepolje, Bjeluša, Kosjerić, Drijetanj etc., are usually preserved, as these are the names used in official documents and other publications.as recognized by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia However, there is also a number of toponyms which were Ekavized in the written language, although their original Ijekavian forms often survived in the spoken language. These include Bela Reka, Kriva Reka, Seništa and others, which can often be heard as Bijela Rijeka, Kriva Rijeka, Sjeništa etc. in conversation among the locals.cf. Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор“; Љубиша Р. Ђенић, „Златиборски летопис“; Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“ and other works that nonetheless mention them in their original Ijekavian forms. In the Central South Slavonic dialect continuum, the Užice speech forms a transition between the neighbouring dialects of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the dialects of Serbia. Some of its characteristics are shared with either dialects, but many of them are common with the Bosnian rather than Serbian dialects, including the originally Ijekavian rendering, the reduction of short unaccented vowels in speech, and other characteristics of local phonetics, phonology, and the lexis, the latter manifested primarily in many loanwords from the Turkish, Persian, and Arabic languages, which are, however, suppressed and less used in the modern language.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 141 The Užice speech can thus be considered the easternmost of the Bosnian dialects, even though it is spoken on the territory of Western Serbia and not Bosnia and Herzegovina itself – the connections between the Užice region and Bosnia were even stronger in the past, as parts of this region once belonged to the mediaeval Bosnian state, and the mediaeval local population were followers of the Church of Bosnia.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор у прошлости“, Титово Ужице 1983, p. 11 Furthermore, the local dialect was undoubtedly called Bosnian in Evliya Çelebi’s travelogue. History The local population descends from the Slavs who have mixed with Illyrian and Celtic tribes in the early Middle AgesМилисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор“, Титово Ужице 1970, p. 73, and therefore the dialect in its earliest mediaeval form has been rather influenced by the Celtic and Illyrian languages, the remaining of which are some local toponyms of Illyrian or Romanized Celtic etymology, such as Tara Mountain, Negbina, Murtenica, Čigota etc.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор у прошлости“, Титово Ужице 1983, p. 6; also according to Konstantin Josef Jireček, or the mediaeval local personal name Brajan (cognate of Brian) of Celtic origin.Ахмед С. Аличић, „Турски катастарски пописи неких подручја западне Србије – XV и XVI век“, Чачак 1984 Mediaeval records of local toponyms show Ikavian characteristics of the local Slavonic vernacular, similarly to the mediaeval Bosnian language. These toponyms include Bika Rika, Siča Rika, Biluša, and others, which are today known as Bela Reka or Bijela Rijeka, Seča Reka or Seča Rijeka, and Bjeluša (either Ijekavian or Ekavized during the 19th and 20th centuries). The dialect’s vocabulary was later influenced by the Ottoman Turkish language.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 140 A mention of the respectable Turkish influence on the language and mentality of Užičans is also found in the novel Došljaci by a notable writer from Užice Milutin Uskoković: During the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the Užice region was mostly populated by the migrants from Herzegovina, Montenegro, and other Dinaric regions. Most of the present-day Užičans descend from these settlers.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор у прошлости“, Титово Ужице 1983, p. 50 The local dialect was then influenced by the Younger Ijekavian speeches of Herzegovina and Montenegro, and thus became one of the Eastern Herzegovinian speeches.Similarly to other Serbo-Croatian dialects that were influenced by the settlers from Herzegovina, and today are classified under Eastern Herzegovinian speeches. The Dubrovnik dialect was originally Ikavian and possibly Čakavian but today is Herzegovinian Ijekavian, and the dialects of Lika were originally Ikavian but today are mostly Eastern Herzegovinian Ijekavian. Both Dubrovnik and Lika, like Užice, were settled by migrants from Herzegovina during the Ottoman rule over the Balkans. Literature The significant portion of the vernacular literature of Užice is comprised of local anecdotes and proverbs, and epic and lyric poems, both of which are usually sung according to a common metric system consisting of ten units (ten syllables in a verse) and often performed with the traditional instrument called gusle.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор“, Титово Ужице 1970, p. 74 The hero of all Užican anecdotes is called Ero (another name for an Užičan, also spelled Era), who is portrayed as a most clever, witty, and hospitable person, although he is just a simple peasant. In these short anecdotes, he always succeeds to trick the others at the end, even though they hold a higher position in the society or are often considered smarter than him (priests, Ottoman and Serbian nobility, the police, etc.).Bulletin of the Ethnographical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, vol XLVI, Belgrade 1997: Десанка Николић, „Анегдота – израз ерског менталитета“ Characters similar to smart and clever Ero are found in anecdotes across the Balkans: in the stories about Nasredin Hodža, of oriental origin, or Karagiozis in the Greek and Turkish literatures.Р. Ангелова, „Любими геори на хумористичните приказки и анегдотите у някои славянски и неславянски народи“, Език и литература XXVIII/3, София 1973, p. 16 – 17 The written literature, on the other hand, usually stuck to the standard language; that is Old Church Slavonic and Church Slavonic in the Middle Ages, and later the standard Serb(o-Croat)ian language. The first printed book from Užice, Rujansko četvorojevanđelje (the Gospels of Rujno), was printed in Church Slavonic in 1537.Милисав Р. Ђенић, „Златибор у прошлости“, Титово Ужице 1983, p. 10 Other Church Slavonic books printed in the Užice region include Psalter printed in the Mileševa monastery in 1544, and Evangelion and Pentecostarion printed in the Mrkša’s Church near Kosjerić in 1562 and 1566, respectively.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 44 – 47 After the printing centres in Užican monasteries were demolished by the Ottoman Turks, a manuscript culture called the Rača School arose in the Rača monastery near Bajina Bašta. The manuscripts produced in Rača were written in Church Slavonic, but they contained many elements of the spoken vernacular.Љубомир Симовић, „Ужице са вранама“, Београд 2002, p. 53 – 57 The first works compiled in the local dialect by literate Užičans appeared in the 19th century. They include Miladin Radović’s chronicle Samouki rukopis, and the Prophecy of Kremna. Examples References See also * Serbian language * Bosnian language * folk literature External links * Užice dialect edition of Wikipedia * The history of the traditional dialect of Užice * Kratka istorija starovlaške književnosti * О новијој златиборској књижевности * Category:Serbo-Croatian dialects Category:Neo-Shtokavian dialects Category:Dialects with Ijekavian rendering